THINGS ARE NOT LOOKING GOOD RIGHT NOW FOR NESSI. WAS DOING SOOO WELL BUT HASN'T EATEN OR EM HASN'T BEEN THERE FOR 5 DAYS.DON'T KNOW MUCH ELSE. JUST PRAYING NESSI GETS SOMETHING TO EAT AND PARENTS HAVE NOT ABANDONED HIM.

2002-Nest building took place on the top nest, but laying was abandoned as a large snake ..... .... was observed on the rock along side the nestshe moved to bottom nest in 2002 laid 2 eggs they didn't hatch either. she was incubating in 10" of hail that year. Also didn't make an egg cup First nest ...Its really narrow opening smaller than this one

Hope everyone had a joyous Christmas and are looking forward to New Year’s Eve celebrations! Personally, I cannot wait for Nessi to fledge, because as soon as he does, she will give me a break from writing weekly pages that are becoming more and more difficult to find topics to write about. The babe will be 91 & 92 days young over this weekend or 13 weeks!

Fledging & Thereafter

On average, Black eagles spend about 94-98 days on the nest before it fledges. Usually, first flights are rather catastrophic mainly because in that split second that it realises it is airborne, the juvenile has no idea what to do and where to land let alone how to land and this can be quite a rude awakening…crash-landings are fairly common!

I recall that on 3 previous occasions in the nineties, the juvenile landed in a forest below the nest, hanging on a branch in an upside-down position with wings outstretched and flaying about. With some hand clapping from us, the eagle unable to right itself would let go, drop to the ground and start running to get away from us…find an opening and fly out of the forested area. We have seen a number of youngsters land on the rocks some distance from the nest and then hop and walk with occasional short bursts of flight making their way back to the nest…then spending another few days there before it plucks enough courage to fly off once more - cute! J

First month off: It will spend time within the immediate surrounds of the nest bowl area…learning to fly short distances…perching…roosting and so forth. Occasionally the juvenile will return to the safety of the nest where it is fed by the adults and also roost there in safety. To entertain itself, it will grab and play with sticks, do mock attacks on doves and pigeons.

Second month off: Having found its wings already, it will fly with the adults, but never accompany them on hunting excursions as a juvenile is just too noisy and a dead-giveaway to possible prey that the eagles are on their way. During this month, the juvenile will start to wander farther from the nest area, but may yet return at dusk to roost near the nest or with its parents.

Third month off: During this month it wanders farther from the nest bowl area and the adults will gradually push it towards the boundary of their home range. The days of seeing it regularly flying high above the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden will be numbered as with sheer aggression from the adults will they push him/her away! Once it is well outside their territorial boundary, it is on its own and will no longer be fed by the adults. When it is hungry, it will have to find its own food as it is now independent and on its own.

Thereafter: Only 20-30% of juveniles survive their first year away from the nest. Generally, they do not venture too far beyond their natal home range boundaries as they have to teach themselves to hunt, this is better executed in wide open grassveld habitats where they are less likely to fly into an obstruction.

The problem I foresee with this youngster is that it will be a loner in that usually during their normal winter breeding season, when after three months leaving its natal home range, it teams up with other juveniles – referred to as floaters – will fly off and do their own thing until they are adult, paired and have found their own territory and place to breed.

Encountered Problems:

Starvation – as mentioned above, the chances are one in three to survive their first year and having never been taught to hunt, hunting skills will not come that easy at first. Electrocution – flying into overhead electrical power lines unseen by the juveniles will cause severe injury and or electrocution that invariably are fatal. Drowning – eagles washing or quenching their thirst in half full circular farm dam reservoirs, drown as their feathers become waterlogged and they are unable to clamber onto the wall. Poisoning – all eagles scavenge at times as this is an easy method of finding food…what they don’t know is that the carcass may be laced with poisons that is meant to kill “vermin” such as caracal and jackal and inadvertently kills the scavenger. Collisions – Scavenging on road kills can get the eagles run over and maimed by vehicles and killed by large trucks that are unable to sound a timeous warning.

Many thanks to BEPR principal project photographer, Garth Heydenrych for his weekly contribution…we have all seen the chick grow to eaglet and progressing to juvenile stages…absolutely stunning a great big thank you!

Many thanks to the BEPR volunteers, without your support this project will not exist!

Thanks to Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden for their support and tolerating our presence!

May the BEPR grow from strength to strength during 2014…in the meanwhile…lets party!

Excellent Video Bunnie. I was gonna post it but you beat me to it! LOL I think Nessi's crop was way too full to get her off the ground today. Hopefully next week will be her time to leave the nest. I hope she will survive since this is an odd time of year for fledglings and no others will be around for her to learn and hang out with. Hopefully she will find a place where others have fledged earlier this year and have some companions. Emoyeni and Thulane have done a wonderful job this season raising this eaglet despite the hot weather they had to endure.